Jordanian Professor: Israel Will Go to War over Water

A professor in Jordan, considered one of Israel’s warmest Arab neighbors, charges that Israel will wage war against Egypt and Lebanon for water.

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Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 07/11/09 20:38 | updated: 20:56

Water desalination plant

Israle news photo: IDE Technologies)

Israel will go to war against Lebanon and Egypt to solve its water crisis, a Jordanian political science professor has charged. Dr. Ghazi Al-Rababah told the Jordanian Al-Arab Alyawm newspaper that the first war would be in Shebaa farms area, a small part of which Lebanon and Syria have been trying to force Israel to surrender.

Although Israel is taking steps to solve the water shortage by building desalination plants that will be in full production in four years, al-Rababah declared that Israel will wage war against Egypt within seven years in order to control the NileRiver.

He accused Israel of "stealing hundreds of millions cubic meters of water from the Litani water in Lebanon, which has violated agreements by diverting water from flowing across the border.

The professor also repeated charges that Israel is stealing water from the Palestinian Authority and that it is sending contaminated water to Gaza.

The Amnesty International organization recently issued a report that condemned Israel for alleged restrictions of water to Gaza. The Israel Water Authority released statistics showing that Israelis actually have been allocated less water per capita since 1967, when Egypt and Jordan fled from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, while the Arab residents in the same areas have been using more water per capita.

Arabs in Judea and Samaria also have been illegally drilling for water in violation of the Oslo Accords signed more than 15 years ago.

Jordan is considered one of Israel’s warmest Arab neighbors, and the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994, making Jordan the second Arab country to end hostilities with the Jewish state. Israel and Jordan also conduct a large export-import trade.